9 Cool Underwater Creatures that Glow in the Dark

Deep-Sea Anglerfish

The deep-sea anglerfish lives worldwide in tropical and temperate latitudes. These fish have very specific prey and use their bioluminescence to capture them. The lure is filled with luciferin, which makes the light. These animals can hide the light using a muscular skin flap and ambush prey.

The large mouth and long, pointy teeth clamp down over the prey after the sudden, flashing bright light lures and stuns it.

The bioluminescence is also used to attract mates. Fish that can lay eggs are the only ones who have this lure. The fish that inseminate, on the other hand, hatch, swim in search of a lighted mate, bite it, and release sperm, then go on in search of the next mate.

Tomopteris

The tomopteris, also called the gossamer worm, swims at ocean depths around the world. The animal is one of the few that glows yellow instead of blue or green. The light shines from its body to its foot-like appendages, which researchers call parapodia.

The tomopteris will also release light from its appendages while it is releasing its eggs.

These worms glow in the dark as a defense mechanism from predators. The yellow light signals that the tomopteris are not safe for consumption.

Atolla Jellyfish

The Atolla jellyfish, commonly called the crown jelly, has a deep groove running through its bell. This groove looks like a crown. In addition, they glow a deep red. The red light is not visible to its predators because that hue does not penetrate to the animal’s usual depths of living. Thus, the animal can hide in plain sight.

The jellyfish also gives off flashes of blue light to attract and stun its prey. The lights will also confuse predators. It also lures larger predators that give the Atolla time to escape.

Scaly Dragonfish

Another underwater creature that glows in the dark is the scaly dragonfish. This animal has a long barbel located on its chin. Not only does this glowing tip help them attract prey, but the animal can also directly control whether the light shines.

The dragonfish also has bioluminescent photophores behind its eyes and scattered across its body. These glow-in-the-dark spots help them navigate the depths of the ocean.

Comb Jelly

The comb jelly lives in the open ocean and usually has the shape of an oval. The animals come in a variety of sizes, but all of them glow in the dark. They use eight rows of comb-like plates with infused cilia on them to move through the water.

These plates have podocytes under their cilia, which produce a shimmering blueish light that looks like a rainbow. This bioluminescence confuses and deceives predators. It also attracts prey so that the comb jelly can swallow them whole.

Gulper Eel

At a depth of up to 3,000 meters, the gulper eel has a bioluminescent organ at the tip of their long, slender body. This animal might use the glow-in-the-dark organ for attracting prey, seeking mates, or distracting predators.

Because this animal lives deep in the ocean, humans rarely observe them. Fishers spotted them in temperate and tropical oceans.

Deep Sea Shrimps

The deep-sea shrimp vary from between 12 to 16 centimeters long. They have two different methods of bioluminescence. First, they will spew glowing blue, sticky secretions to defend against predators.

Second, they will emit light from their body, limbs, and abdomen. This light allows them to camouflage from predators and migrate to shallow waters. When they are in depths that allow light, the shrimp’s photophores will mimic the filtered light and hide them.

The shrimp will glow red or sometimes a light purple.

Vampire Squid

The vampire squid lives in temperate and tropical oceans in the deep sea. They have bioluminescent mucus that helps them avoid predators.

They will eject a sticky cloud of mucus that contains blue lights. The lights will flash for about 10 minutes, which gives the animal time to disappear into the darkness. The ink sticks to the predator, meaning that they will be easy to spot for a while, and other animals can avoid them.

Vampire squids also have bioluminescent organs on the ends of their arms. These help the animal attract prey. These glow-in-the-dark arms will also regenerate if a predator bites them off.